Wisdom

The New Testament also warns against pleasing ourselves with false worship. Paul wrote to the Colossians condemning their novelties and experiments with “self-imposed worship” (Col. 2:23). Jesus warned against allowing traditions to dominate and subvert the Word of God: “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matt. 15:6). Jesus was not speaking about worship when he made that statement, but then he used Isaiah 29:13, which is about worship, to support his words:

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. (vv. 8-9)

He was saying that our service to God, whether in life generally or in corporate worship, must not be determined by tradition but must follow the teaching of God in the Bible.

Paul specifically warned the Corinthians against false worship in the way they were administering the Lord’s Supper. The sins and errors that infected their worship led Paul to charge them with destroying that sacrament: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat (1 Cor. 11:20). In fact, God cares so much about worship that Paul records that God visited judgment on the Corinthians for their abuses in worship related to that sacrament: “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep” (v. 30).

The Bible reminds us that neither our instincts nor our traditions nor our experiments are reliable guides to worship. The Bible itself is our only reliable guide.

Godfrey

NW